FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 39 



free days in the Kuropean gardens, the benefits of the gardens 

 are really luxuries for the wealthy and prosperous classes. The 

 reall)- poor people ha\'e open parks in abundance, and enjoy 

 them to the fullest extent ; but the admission fee necessary to 

 an enjoyment of the .study of animals in the zoological gardens, 

 is, to tens of thousands, an insurmountable barrier to pleasures 

 of that nature. In Paris, the people of the poorer classes — 

 as well as all others — throng the menagerie of the Jardin des 

 Plantes in crowds that are too great for the best interests of 

 the in.stitution. With the highest and strongest barriers to 

 be found in any European garden, Professor Milne-Edwards, 

 the Director, declares they are not yet high enough and strong 

 enough to fully protect the animals from the crowds which visit 

 them daily. It is his advice that the proposed New York 

 Zoological Park should be open to free admission only two daj's 

 of each week, instead of a greater number. 



Features Possessed by ael European Gardens. — The 

 following features were found in every zoological garden visited, 

 wath the exceptions to be noted : — 



A large restaurant and concert hall, and usually a small and 

 cheap restaurant, also. 



Music, to attract great crowds. 



Flowers and plants in profusion. 



Abundant shade, both for the animals and visitors. 



Direct and cheap transportation. 



The privilege of exchanging or selling duplicate specimens, 

 and of producing revenue in all legitimate ways. 



The merit system respecting the selection and pay of em- 

 ployees. 



Immunity from political interference. 



The active interest and annual financial support of either 

 several hundred or several thousand first-class citizens. 



The sympathy and moral support of the community sur- 

 rounding each garden. 



The only exceptions to be noted are the absence of a con- 

 cert hall in the London garden, and of both that and the res- 

 taurant feature at the Jardin des Plantes. 



